C-Murder: Tru-ly Yours (dope INTERVIEW)

[Elano]

There's one in every family. In some of the hardest albums No Limit Records ever released, C-Murder was often the culprit. He was and is the Backwoods-smoking younger brother of Master P and older brother of Silkk Tha Shocker, as C (short for Corey) somehow seemed the most convincing of the Brothers Miller when it came to rhyming about murder, malice or money-getting schemes.
Time proved to be prophetic. In early 2002, C-Murder was convicted of second-degree murder for a shooting in a Louisiana club. Now released to house arrest with his grandmother, the foulest mouth of Tru is now using some different words and topics to reflect on life.
 In a discussion about literature, hustling and Soulja Slim, C-Murder has all the side-effects of a reformed man. But for those curious to see or hear what's really going on in Corey Miller's world, he's still hustling - DVDs and CDs for your taking.

C-Murder, how’s life been treating you lately?

C-Murder: Man, life is good right now, bruh. I’m back in the streets back on the grind working on this album. I finished this DVD that’s about to drop and all my Tru Records artists are about to get back in the lab to handle their business, so you know it’s good right now.

Tell me this whole thing you're doing with all your Tru artists?

CM: That’s the movement, bruh, and just like in this DVD, I’m just basically introducing people to my artists, letting them see how they rock it in the studio laying down these hit records making that gutter music. The next thing coming out on Tru Records is The Cutt Boys, who are some of my homey’s from the neighborhood.

What’s it’s like to go back to the hood and putting your homies on so they can get some money too?

CM: It’s good, you know, I’ve been grinding, holding it down, so I got to show them love too and plus I want real dudes on my team, you know. That’s some real homies I grew up with that I’ve been knowing. They are loyal, they respect the game, and most of all the talent, their talent is crucial, they’re out the box.

Since they’re your boys from the hood what makes them real? Let it be known.

CM: I was raised with these dudes from day one, you know. We used to fight each other, everything, so I know them in and out back and forth, and they know me. We just real street cats we from the streets for real, but we got sense. We ain’t out there acting up, wilding out, we tryna do something better with our life. That’s what really make us real when we really need each other. Fuck all the street shit; we about that money shit, you see what I’m saying?

There is nothing like getting your money.

CM: Yeah bruh, for real, you can’t do nothing when you in jail, you heard.

Speaking of, what’s the toughest thing about taking time off and coming back to get on the grind?

CM: Just the hypeness of it, man, getting in the studio getting some crucial beats and sitting in there letting the world know everything I do. It’s all about that, my fans been showing me love keeping my head up and other things. They been holding me down 100%, and I’m about to come back out and give them that real music they want right back.

Speaking on your fans, why you think they’re so happy to see you back out doing your thing?

CM: They can relate to me, man, I never tried to sell myself as some big-time dude acting funny with my fans; plus my music always keep it real. I always did what I did when I was in the studio and in the booth. I never changed none of that no matter what the Hip Hop scene was in the industry. No matter what the people said I just keep my music gutter, and they can respect that. Plus they can respect how I rock when I’m out in the street so it just shows real recognize real that’s all

Back in the days with No Limit, your music was so gutter. Will it be more grimy or you will change it up a little bit?

CM: Man, down here, they screaming for it, so you already know what to expect with this one. Screamin' 4 Vengeance is the title, and it’s no holds barred. It’s more gangsta, more gutter, and you know I stepped my game up. You're gonna see some different shit on here and plus, you're gonna see some gangsta shit where you can bob your head just hearing the same ol' same, dog.

You're from New Orleans and many know it’s has one of the highest murder rates in the nation, can you speak on your life growing up in N.O.?

CM: Being a young kid growing up in New Orleans , especially in the projects, is ruthless. You just gotta know how to survive and violence and crime just becomes a part of your everyday life. You gotta know how to adapt to it and not get took under by the street, you know stuff like not get swept away by stuff that’s going on in the hood. You gotta stay focused and try to move out the hood, ya feel me. The one thing that inspired me, bruh, is my grandma, she raised me working during the day, she took me in and worked to take of us. I always said to myself, I’m make it so I can take care of her and buy her a house. As long as you got a goal and focus on it, bruh, you gonna make it no matter where you from and how the streets treating you. No matter what’s going on around you you got your own mind and you gonna survive.

What you think it was that made C-Murder survive in the streets?

CM: Just being calm, when you in the streets you just gotta be calm all the way. I just took it upon myself to hold myself down in these streets no matter what. When the streets wild, I get wild; when the streets calm, I get calm. You just gotta know how to adapt and always protect yourself.

Can you tell me the status of Silk The Shocker right now?

CM: Yeah he got his own movie production company, and he doing real good with that. He got a lot of movies that’s about to be dropping and stuff like that. I think he’s working on a new album too, but his main focus right now is those movies and that production stuff.

Hip-hop has been getting a lot of blame from the media when it comes to violence and everything. Master P has decided to go the positive route so how you feel about that?

CM: If that’s what he want to do, let him do it. Whatever rocks your boat do it, bro, but the only thing is if you don’t got it, in you don’t do it. Everybody comes to a evolving time in your life when they say I wanna do this and that, but for me I want to be known for what I’ve been doing when I get in that booth. I don’t want to be influenced by nobody - like I got to say a certain word or I can’t say a certain word. That’s music it’s entertainment, you got all these horror movies, look at these rock groups ain’t nobody messing with none of them, but they want to blame rap, that just don’t make no sense. I’m just shouting him out, bruh, I’m going through me, ya heard me.

How do you feel about the New Orleans Hip Hop scene as a whole?

CM: Man, New Orleans is on the rise right now, dog. Baton Rouge is also doing they thing and they only like 30, 40 minutes away so you know we caking up right now. Right now Lil Wayne, Baby and them is holding it down, [Soulja] Slim - R.I.P. was holding it down for a minute so New Orleans is holding it down. Plus I got some new homies from the projects like my homey Verse, G-Dinero, Yella; they all gonna be repping New Orleans .

Okay I see C-Murder is grinding hard.

CM: Oh yeah, I’m grinding hard. I’m tryna hustle in every angle, bruh. I’m tryna get in these movies everything. I got another book coming out called Street Glory.

So speaking on the books what made you get into that?

CM: Well I was sitting for a minute and was like, “Man, I’m doing a lot of reading.” I was like, “Oh okay, I can do this.” I just took it serious going ahead and starting writing. I put a couple of my ideas down and bought a book that teaches you how to write a novel, and just kept on reading and reading, like 500 books. I got the game down pack; I got the blueprint down pack, and did what I had to do, man. It’s just another hustle to me and at the same time you got to express yourself a lot more in a novel. You can say more in a novel as you can write story after story.

What do you like most about reading and tell me some of your favorite books you ever read?

CM: What I like about reading, bruh, is that it takes you somewhere else. You can find information about stuff way in New York or way in Kansas City while you way in New Orleans reading a book. It’s plenty of stuff that you can learn in it. One of the books that I love is The Autobiography of Malcolm X; that was a real crucial book that was written by Alex Haley. I really enjoyed that, to really learn about Malcolm X about how he lived and survived. A lot of that stuff you can relate too sitting there being in jail.

I see C-Murder was getting that knowledge heavy!

CM: Yeah, I’ve getting that knowledge heavy, bruh. Knowledge is power

Like they say, the streets is where the knowledge come from.

CM: Exactly, when you get that street thing down pack and get your book studies down pack, you will be a hustler after that one, dog.

Tell me this what makes C-Murder a hustler?

CM: Man, I was just born and raised like that like. I say along with being around the elements of street hustling, but that’s not the only thing that make you a hustler. What makes me a hustler is watching how my grandmother got up everyday to work and did her thing just to provide for us and her family stuff like that by any means necessary, even when she was tired and hurt. A hustler is just a go-getter by any means if it’s out there, he gonna go get it. It’s a must.

A lot of people go through their ups and downs and life. If you can go back and change anything about your life what would it be?

CM: You already know what time it is, because you know I was gone for a while. I would definitely change a lot of stuff. One thing I would change is my brother getting killed, Kevin Miller. If I could go back in time and change that, that will be all good, you heard me.

Can you speak on Soulja Slim and the respect you had for him?

CM: Oh yeah I respect my homey, I held my homey down at times when it went down, you heard me. We were real close and became tight as we been through it thick and thin, you know. I’ma keep his name running in my music you know.

C-Murder how do you feel about Hip Hop today?

CM: I feel like Hip Hop is crucial right now, and it’s a lot of dudes right now that’s doing they thing. A lot of people talking about Hip Hop is dead; Hip Hop ain’t nowhere near dead, man. When you turn the radio on, we still breathing, and as long as that money keeps rolling in, Hip Hop ain’t gonna never die. You gotta understand, people need they music as that’s how we survive. That’s what Hip Hop is all about as a culture. If we don’t die as a culture, how can Hip Hop die? It’s gonna keep coming no matter what we got something for everything. We got party music, we got Soulja Boy doing his thing for the youth, so we hitting it from every angle, bruh.